Sustainability
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Sustainability
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Hurricane Lee barrels toward New England | Forecasters are now warning that Hurricane Lee poses an increasing threat to both New England and Nova Scotia as it spirals northwest over the next few days. |
The National Hurricane Center urged officials in both the northeastern U.S. and Atlantic Canada to “monitor the progress” of the Category 2 storm, stressing that storm watches would likely be required for parts of these areas by nightfall.
A tropical storm warning, meanwhile, was already in effect for Bermuda, as Hurricane Lee hovered about 420 miles south-southwest of the mid-Atlantic island. “A turn toward the north is expected by tonight, followed by an increase in speed on Thursday and Friday,” the National Hurricane Center warned.
The forecasters projected that the center of Lee would pass west of Bermuda Thursday, before approaching the coast of New England or Atlantic Canada on Friday and Saturday.
Already on Wednesday, swells generated by Lee were affecting portions of the Lesser Antilles, the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and Bermuda, per the National Hurricane Center.
Describing “dangerous surf and rip currents” along portions of the southeastern and mid-Atlantic U.S. coast, the forecasters cautioned that such conditions could spread northward already on Wednesday.
Along the South Shore of Massachusetts, those involved in the fishing industry were anticipating a weekend in which their boats would need to remained docked, according to the local station WBZ NewsRadio.
Plymouth Harbormaster Chad Hunter told WBZ that anyone with a boat should avoid the water, even if the hurricane may not make landfall.
Emphasizing the likelihood of “surf and waves” and impacts in the bay, Hunter said that his best advice is “don’t risk it.”
Forecasters at the Weather Channel warned that New England can’t handle any more precipitation, as the region has been “hit by round after round of locally heavy rain since last Friday.”
Stressing that this has been one of New England’s wettest summers in the past 129 years, Weather Channel senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman explained that “the ground is saturated and can’t absorb any additional heavy rainfall.”
Significant flash flooding is therefore likely to occur wherever the heaviest rain from Hurricane Lee occurs, according to Erdman.
And with rain-soaked leaves weighing down branches, less wind would be required to down both trees and power lines, he added. “There’s no room for more rain,” Erdman stated. |
Welcome to The Hill’s Sustainability newsletter, I’m Sharon Udasin — every week I follow the latest moves in the growing battle over sustainability in the U.S. and around the world. |
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Latest news impacting sustainability this week and beyond: |
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The California Assembly approved first-of-its-kind legislation Monday night that would require all major corporations that operate in the Golden State to disclose both direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. The Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, or SB 253, would require the state Air Resources Board to develop and adopt emissions disclosure rules for companies that do business in California and whose annual revenues … |
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Republican voters’ disproportionate vulnerability to extreme weather events could stimulate spending on climate action, researchers argue in a new policy paper. Republicans may generally express doubt with regards to the impacts of climate change, but they are also more likely to experience the most serious effects — including flooding and wildfires, per the paper, published in the journal … |
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Two Colorado legislators are demanding a full environmental review of a proposal to expand a Utah oil transport facility — plans they believe could endanger their state’s residents across the border. Because the potential expansion of the Wildcat Loadout is located on federal land, Sen. Michael Bennet (D) and Rep. Joe Neguse (D) appealed to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in a letter on Thursday, requesting a “full and … |
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An interorganizational team of scientists has identified “opportunity hot spots” across the U.S. West where forest managers could target their efforts to mitigate the risk of wildfire-related carbon loss. As both climate change and wildfires have intensified, so too have concerns about the release of carbon that has been stored by trees for decades or even centuries, according to the researchers, who came together from federal, … |
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Parks on ex-incinerator sites could be laced with lead |
© AP Photo/Steve Helber, File |
Soil in city parks that once housed garbage incinerators and waste ash may contain elevated levels of lead, a new study has found.
In some cases, concentrations of this toxic metal exceed the thresholds deemed hazardous by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the study, published this week in Environmental Science & Technology Letters.
Tin cans, paint and pipes: Prior to the 1950s, many U.S. and Canadian cities burned garbage, street debris and construction materials at incineration facilities, the authors noted. -
Among the waste products entering the incinerators were tin cans, paint and pipes that contained lead.
- The resulting incineration ash often included high concentrations of hazardous metallic ingredients.
Lead-laden landscape: When the incineration sites shut down, many cities decided to convert the land for recreational uses, by adding clean layers of topsoil onto the contaminated property, the researchers explained. - But with wind and rain comes erosion, while new landscaping efforts can also resurface deep, lead-polluted layers.
- Such activity, in turn, poses a threat to certain play areas — by potentially raising surface soil lead levels above the EPA’s limit of 400 parts per million.
Zooming in: Scientists from Duke University decided to investigate this phenomenon at three city parks in Durham, N.C., that were all previously home to four city-run waste incinerators, according to a 1937 municipal street map.
They collected the top layer of soil from grassy areas, forests and streams that ran through the parks, then analyzed these samples for lead content.
What did they find? The researchers identified different patterns of soil remediation, as well as potential exposures to lead, depending on the specific location: - In the public part of one park, every sample fell under the EPA’s soil-lead limit and was deemed safe.
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The two other parks, however, contained potentially hazardous levels of lead in multiple samples.
- One cluster of samples surpassed 1,000 parts per million — or 2.5 times the EPA’s threshold.
- Stream beds and channel walls had the highest levels, ranging from 2,400 to 12,000 parts per million.
And outside Durham? To extrapolate their findings to other cities, the researchers turned to historic surveys of municipal waste management. - They determined that about half of U.S. and Canadian cities surveyed had incinerated solid waste in the 1930s to 1950s.
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For six cities, they demonstrated how officials could track the transformation of incinerator sites into parks and monitor these areas for lead pollution.
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Those municipalities included New York City; Baltimore; Charleston, S.C.; Spokane, Wash.; Los Angeles and Jacksonville, Fla.
A remedy to revive public trust: “Such soil contamination risks the public’s trust in city parks that are fundamental to the wellbeing, happiness, and upbringing of urban children and families,” the authors concluded. “Such invisible contaminations need practical and effective remedy,” they added. |
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Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching: |
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The California legislature’s Interim Recess begins upon adjournment on Sept. 14 — meaning that the two chambers have until end-of-day Thursday to pass legislation on a series of sustainability-related proposals, including bills about offshore wind, baby food safety, lead water testing in schools, the installation of solar panels along highways and the issue of capping idle oil wells. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) then has one month, until Saturday, Oct. 14, to sign or veto these bills.
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Branch out with different reads from The Hill: |
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A coalition of conservation groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday over what they charged are failures to enforce the Endangered Species Act (ESA). |
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is planning a trip to China to meet with officials in an effort to boost climate cooperation. |
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Local and state headlines on sustainability issues: |
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Sustainability news we’ve flagged from other outlets: |
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As OPEC’s Energy Influence Wanes, China’s Minerals Clout Rises (The Wall Street Journal)
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Saudi Oil Production Cuts To Deepen Rift With U.S. (Oil Price)
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Sea-level rise could sink small islands like Tuvalu. Can they use ocean law to save themselves? (Euronews)
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More stories on The Hill right now: |
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Story at a glance Some parts of the upper Midwest are being called “climate havens,” or areas that are less likely to suffer from extreme heat, sea-level rise and flooding as the Earth’s temperature rises. But experts agree that while some areas of the U.S. are less likely to be as harshly impacted by … Read more |
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Researchers at the University of Rochester transferred a longevity gene from naked mole rats to mice, calling it a “groundbreaking endeavor.” Read more |
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Opinions related to sustainability submitted to The Hill: |
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You’re all caught up. See you next week! |
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